A British student, Mia O’Brien from Liverpool, could face 25 years in prison and believes she was set up by her own friends after being caught with what she says was just a single line of cocaine.
The incident happened while she was on holiday in Dubai last October, when police raided a party she was attending.
Police found 50 grams of cocaine in the apartment and arrested Mia, another British woman named Emma, and Emma’s boyfriend.
Mia tested positive for drugs and was taken into custody, while Emma tested negative and was released. She’s now back in the UK.
Emma’s boyfriend was also sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Mia, a 24-year-old law student, believes she was made the scapegoat.
Mia’s former cellmate, who had been detained for leaving the scene of a car accident and was released after paying a £3,000 fine, shared some insight into Mia’s situation.
She said that Mia had fallen out with her friend, claiming it was actually the friend’s boyfriend who had the cocaine.
The problem, according to her, was that all three were arrested but only Mia had drugs in her system, so she was the one held.
Her friend tested negative, was released, and is now back in the UK.
Mia believes her friend may have set her up in order to get herself out and return home.
Despite reportedly admitting to snorting a line, Mia never thought she’d be treated as a trafficker, the cellmate said.
But after a one-day trial held in Arabic on July 25, she was handed a 25-year sentence and a £100,000 fine.
Mia’s former cellmate recalled that they had been at a party having fun when police suddenly showed up and took Mia away in a car.
Mia admitted to her that there were drugs at the party and said, “I took drugs.” She understood she was in serious trouble but didn’t expect to be treated as a drug dealer.
According to the cellmate, Mia believed that while she had taken cocaine, she wasn’t involved in dealing. That’s how she behaved during her time in the detention centre not as someone who thought she’d committed a major crime.
The cellmate added that if Mia is telling the truth and only took a single line of cocaine, then a 25-year sentence is incredibly harsh. She also mentioned that Mia was only a few days into her holiday when it happened.
After months in the harsh conditions of Dubai’s Al Barsha detention centre, Mia has now been moved to Al Awir prison.
A British mother who once shared a cell with her described the conditions as “vile” saying there was no light and the toilets were in awful condition. She added that one area was filled with people who knew they’d be jailed for a long time.
The full story of Mia’s situation only came to light when her mother, 46-year-old Danielle McKenna, started a fundraiser to challenge the conviction insisting that her daughter has suffered a serious injustice.
Earlier this month, Danielle had to start a new fundraiser on the Christian site GiveSendGo after GoFundMe unexpectedly removed her original campaign.
Danielle, Mia’s mother, insists her daughter is innocent, calling the case a “miscarriage of justice.” She says Mia simply made “a very stupid mistake” while visiting a friend and her boyfriend.
On the new fundraiser, named the “Mia Rose fund,” Danielle wrote: “As many of you know, Mia has been given a life sentence in Dubai and is now in central prison.
“I’m asking for your help so family can travel to Dubai to visit Mia we haven’t seen her since last October and also to assist with any other expenses we may face along the way.”
“Even if it’s only a £1 it could help us massively. Thank you so much.”
The target has been set at £5,000 but as of September 13 it had just raised £153.